sears

In an age when most companies are treading lightly on the customer service front, realizing today how far one bad experience can travel through the maze of tubes we call the Internet, Sears seems to have decided it’s not worth the effort. Gather ’round boys and girls; I’ve got a story to tell you.

My mother, a retired elementary school librarian (and about the nicest person you’re likely to meet) had a problem. Her old dishwasher finally died and she took a trip to Sears to purchase a new one. They didn’t have the color and model she wanted but told her it could be installed on the first Saturday in June. Four weeks without a dishwasher may seem a lot, but she agreed. She pays with a credit card and, as she is wont to due, pays the entire balance of the purchase off at the first opportunity. This is the second week of May.

Four weeks pass and no dishwasher arrives. Curious, but this foreshadows more trouble to come. It’s been delayed until the 17th. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it wanted to take a two-week vacation before getting to work? Finally the dishwasher arrives…and the it’s so obviously broken the installers don’t even bother to hook it up. The unit is thrown back onto the truck and quickly driven away.